What if the biggest leadership challenge isn’t strategy but self-awareness?

It’s easy to focus on external leadership skills like decision-making, communication, and problem-solving, but real leadership effectiveness starts from within. Emotional intelligence (EQ) and self-awareness shape how leaders handle challenges, build relationships, and inspire teams. Without them, even the best strategies can fall flat.

That’s where psychometric assessments come in. They offer valuable insights into personality, behaviours, and leadership tendencies, making them an essential tool for leadership and executive coaches (if you’re interested in becoming an executive coach, check out our guide here.). If you’ve read our previous blog on psychometric assessments, you already know how these tools support leadership development. But today, we’re taking it a step further.

Meet Lumina Spark—a psychometric assessment designed to go deeper into self-awareness and EQ, helping leaders uncover how they show up in different situations. In this blog, we’ll explore how leadership coaches can use Lumina Spark to support their clients in gaining powerful insights, building emotional intelligence, and ultimately leading with greater impact.

Get to know more about this powerful psychometric tool! 

What Makes Lumina Spark Different for Leadership Development?

Many personality assessments categorize people into fixed types – introvert or extrovert, thinker or feeler – offering a simplified view of leadership styles. But leadership isn’t one-dimensional, and neither are the people who step into those roles.

Lumina Spark takes a different approach. Instead of boxing leaders into rigid categories, it provides a dynamic and layered view of personality, showing how behaviours shift across different situations. This gives executive or leadership coaches a more accurate, real-world perspective on their clients’ leadership tendencies.

At the heart of Lumina Spark are The Three Personas, offering a deeper understanding of how leaders show up in various contexts:

• Underlying Persona – The core of who they are, reflecting their natural strengths, motivations, and inclinations. This is how they think and behave when they’re fully at ease.
• Everyday Persona – How they present themselves in daily interactions, meetings, and decision-making. This is often shaped by workplace culture and professional expectations.
• Overextended Persona – How they respond under pressure. When stress levels rise, certain strengths can become overused, creating blind spots in leadership.

For leadership coaches, this layered approach is invaluable, especially since their behaviours inevitably shift depending on the situation. By using Lumina Spark, coaches can support their clients in recognizing these shifts, fine-tuning their leadership style, and developing the self-awareness needed to lead with intention.

This level of insight goes far beyond simple personality “types.” It allows for meaningful development, helping leaders navigate challenges, adapt to different environments, and build stronger, more emotionally intelligent teams.

The Connection Between Lumina Spark, Self-Awareness, and Emotional Intelligence

But first, let’s discuss how Lumina Spark directly affects a leader’s self-awareness and emotional intelligence.

As we all know (and as we discussed in our blog), self-awareness is at the core of effective leadership. Leaders who truly understand their own behaviour, motivations, and triggers can manage their emotions, communicate with clarity, and make decisions that inspire trust and collaboration. Without this level of insight, leadership can become reactive, driven by unconscious habits rather than intentional choices.

This is where Lumina Spark offers a deeper perspective. Rather than providing a simple personality label, it helps leaders see themselves from multiple angles, highlighting not just who they are but how they adjust to different situations. It allows leaders to recognize patterns in their behaviour, showing where they naturally thrive, how they adapt in their daily work life, and how stress might shift their approach in ways they don’t always realize.

For example, a leader may see themselves as highly collaborative, someone who values input encourages discussion, and welcomes diverse perspectives. But when reviewing their Lumina Spark Overextended Persona, they might discover a tendency to take control in high-pressure situations, unintentionally shutting down conversation rather than fostering it. 

This kind of self-awareness goes beyond traditional leadership feedback. Instead of waiting for external validation or criticism, leaders can proactively recognize their own patterns, giving them the ability to adjust in real time.

For executive coaches and leadership coaches, this opens the door to far more meaningful coaching conversations. Rather than focusing on surface-level leadership skills, coaches can be strategic partners for their clients as they go through a journey of self-discovery, guiding them to uncover the subtle shifts in their behaviour and fine-tune their leadership approach. 

With Lumina Spark as a tool, self-awareness becomes tangible and something leaders can measure, reflect on, and actively develop.

This also strengthens a leader’s emotional intelligence. When leaders understand how their reactions shift under stress, they can work toward managing those responses more effectively, whether that means improving how they handle conflict, making better decisions under pressure, or ensuring their leadership style remains balanced and consistent. 

After all, emotional intelligence isn’t just about understanding others (as we discussed in our blog); it’s also about recognizing and regulating one’s own emotions.

By integrating Lumina Spark into leadership development, coaches can support their clients in building a foundation of self-awareness that leads to lasting growth. Leaders who can see themselves clearly across different situations are better equipped to lead with intention, strengthen their teams, and create a workplace culture built on trust, communication, and adaptability.

How Leadership Coaches Can Use Lumina Spark in Leadership Coaching

Now that we’ve explored how Lumina Spark enhances self-awareness and emotional intelligence, let’s look at how you can use it to support leadership development during coaching sessions.

Supporting Clients in Uncovering Blind Spots

Many leaders have a clear sense of how they believe they lead, but that perception doesn’t always align with reality. Some might see themselves as approachable, yet their team may hesitate to share honest feedback. Others may think they empower their employees, yet unknowingly micromanage them under pressure.

Lumina Spark helps bridge that gap. By mapping out a leader’s Underlying Persona, Everyday Persona, and Overextended Persona, patterns may be revealed that they may not have considered. This creates a powerful starting point for coaching conversations, allowing leaders to understand how their leadership style shifts in different contexts and where there’s room for improvement.

Building Emotional Regulation Strategies

Self-awareness is the first step, but real transformation comes when leaders learn how to manage their emotions effectively. The Overextended Persona in Lumina Spark is particularly valuable here, as it highlights when strengths start working against a leader.

For example, a leader who prides themselves on confidence might realize that under stress, this confidence can become arrogance, causing them to dismiss input from others. Another leader known for being detail-oriented may see that in high-pressure situations, they become overly critical, stifling team creativity.

Coaches can use these insights to equip clients with practical emotional regulation strategies, such as:

• Mindfulness techniques to stay present and avoid reactive decision-making (read our blog here for some tips on mindfulness in coaching)
• Reframing exercises to shift perspectives and maintain a balanced leadership approach.
• Real-time self-check-ins to recognize when their Overextended Persona is taking over and adjust their behaviour accordingly.

Creating Leadership Development Plans Aligned with Individual Strengths

Every leader is different, and what works for one person may not be effective for another. Lumina Spark provides a framework for coaching clients to develop personalized leadership growth strategies that align with their own unique traits.

For example, a high-energy, results-driven leader might benefit from coaching that focuses on active listening and team empathy, ensuring they create space for collaboration rather than driving conversations. On the other hand, a detail-oriented, risk-averse leader may need support in decision-making agility so they can navigate uncertainty with confidence.

Final Thoughts

Leadership challenges often aren’t about strategy or skills alone, they start with self-awareness. The more leaders understand themselves, the better they can navigate challenges, communicate effectively, and inspire their teams. Lumina Spark gives executive and leadership coaches the ability to facilitate this level of self-discovery, supporting clients in developing emotional intelligence and adaptability in a way that feels personal, actionable, and measurable.

If you’re an executive coach (or are currently working toward your certification—learn more in this blog) looking to elevate your practice, Lumina Spark is a powerful addition to your coaching toolkit. It empowers you to be a stronger strategic partner for your clients by providing meaningful insights, guiding them to leverage their strengths, navigate challenges, and refine their leadership approach with confidence.

Visit this page to learn more about our Lumina Spark Assessment program and how you can integrate it into your coaching. And if you’d like a broader look at how psychometric assessments support leadership development, check out our previous blog.

By bringing self-awareness and emotional intelligence to the forefront, you can empower leaders to step into their full potential, making a lasting impact on their teams and organizations.

If you have any questions about this blog or Lumina Spark, feel free to visit our website and reach out to us!